The launch of the privately owned Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida has been aborted after a computer detected a possible problem with one of its engines.

The rocket's engines were shut down just as it was about to leave the launchpad, an official from the US firm SpaceX said on Saturday.

The next launch opportunity is on Tuesday.

SpaceX is the first commercial company to attempt a rendezvous with the International Space Station. Preparations for the company's trial cargo run to the orbiting outpost had been proceeding smoothly until 4:55am EDT (08.55 GMT).

Instead of the rocket's main engines igniting, an onboard computer cancelled the launch after it noticed the chamber pressure in one of the nine Merlin engines was outside its permitted value.

"Liftoff we've had a cutoff. Liftoff did not occur," said Nasa launch commentator George Diller.

Nasa is investing in SpaceX and four other companies to fly cargo and eventually astronauts to the orbital outpost following the retirement of the space shuttles last summer.

The Falcon 9 rocket has flown only twice before, successfully reaching orbit on both occasions. An earlier SpaceX rocket, Falcon-1, failed to reach orbit on its first three test flights, though the company has had no failures since.